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* Home
* Polar Scope Align for iOS
* Xasteria for iOS
* Heaton Park Astro Group
* Astro-Software
* Astro-Shopping
* About
* Contact

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POLAR SCOPE ALIGN FOR IOS

Polar-scope alignment and astronomy/telescope tool for iPhone & iPad.

While this app was made just for myself to allow me to compensate for the
centering error of my iOptron polar scope, it was released for the app store
when I noticed it was actually more accurate than the other apps available,
which either had miscalculations or were not calculating important factors like
atmospheric refraction (see the Accuracy paragraph below for more details).
As users appreciated the core functionality, I got numerous requests to support
more polar scope types and add more features. I am pleased to say I have
satisfied almost all of the requests with support of 24 different reticles
covering various types of polar scopes and have added features to assist in any
polar alignment situation. The Pro version goes beyond polar-alignment, with
weather forecasts, lunar calendars, astro calculators, DSO database and more! So
apart from the most accurate polar alignment app, it is now the most complete in
scope support and most feature-filled.

Table of Contents

Toggle
* App features
* Pro Watch Version
* Donations
* What’s New
* Main Screen
* Choosing A Reticle
* Aligning Reticle to the RA axis
* Polar Alignment Help
* Calculating Reticle Centering Error
* Xasteria Weather Report
* Deep Space Object Database
* Push-To GoTo
* Filters / Sorting
* Settings
* Data sources
* Calculators
* Daytime Polar Alignment
* Accuracy
* FAQ
* Data Share Policy
* Support

APP FEATURES

The free version simply called “Polar Scope Align” includes:

* Wizard to calculate your reticle centering offset and correct or compensate
for it.
* Accurate Polaris / σ Oct position calculation, including atmospheric
refraction, stellar aberration, nutation.
* Automatic Time/Location.
* Supports a multitude of polar scopes: iOptron, Astro-Physics RAPAS & PASILL,
various versions of Takahashi EM-10/11/200/400/500, NJP, PM-1, P2-Z, the
latest Orion / Skywatcher, the Classic Skywatcher / Orion / Celestron / Meade
/ EXOS2 / Bresser, the Telrad, a couple for Astrotrac / Losmandy / Kenko /
Avalon, the Vixen Atlux/SX/SXD/SXP/AXD/GP/GP-DX/Polarie Polar Axis Scopes, a
Konus and several Polar Finders: Tuthill, Explore Scientific 8×50, Meade
9×60, Vixen Polaris, Celestron 7×50, Carton Optical. PoleMaster help view for
South Hemisphere users.
* Remember zero position on Celestron / Skywatcher / Orion etc reticles.
* Moon Phase.
* Deep Space Object Database with Messier, Caldwell catalogs and bright stars
(subset of the larger Pro version database).
* Download and explore DSS color images of the DSO database entries.

* 6 calculators useful for observing and astrophotography.
* Full app in red-color night mode.
* Works on iPhone/iPod/iPad from iOS 9.0.

Extra features of the ad-free “Polar Scope Align Pro”:

* Approximate daytime / no polarscope polar alignment tool. Great for visual
use, solar imaging (including eclipses) and even some limited short focal
length astrophotography.
* Ability to manually enter time/date and location (including saving favorites,
list of recent locations, loading from world location database, searching
online).
* Zoomable reticle view.
* Alt-az alignment error display for mounts that calculate it after star
alignment (e.g. iOptron iEQ45, CEM60).
* Polar alignment when your scope is not in zero position (for mounts like
iOptron ZEQ/CEM on which you can always access the polar scope or trackers
like Skywatcher Star Adventurer).
* Lunar Calendar with solar/lunar rise/set and twilight times.
* Deep Space Object Database with 13000+ objects from several catalogs
(Messier, Caldwell, NGC, IC, Herschell 400, Sharpless 2). The database is
searchable and fully configurable with filters, various sorting methods etc.
* Push-To / Hop-To function to add some go-to capability to manual mounts like
dobsonians.
* iOptron, NexStar and Meade LX200 Star Lists.
* Over 30 calculators useful for observing and astrophotography, from eyepiece
magnification and field of view, to imaging resolution and reducers.
* Bubble level (using either gyro or accelerometer) and Compass heading, as
well as magnetic declination reading.
* Special version of Xasteria: World astro-weather report based on 7Timer!,
Dark Sky data. Quick access to even more weather sources.
* Water vapor satellite images (Xasteria).
* Light pollution information for your location.
* List of visible ISS and bright satellite passes (Xasteria).
* Switch to alternative night mode colors, or daytime mode for the tools.
* Red/White/LED light control.
* GPS accuracy/elevation data.
* Screen dimming slider.

Free Version

Pro Version

Apple Watch Version

PRO WATCH VERSION

The Pro Watch version has all the features of Polar Scope Align Pro, with the
addition of an Apple Watch app that offers:
-Graphic & Text display of polar alignment.
-Weather view.
-Bubble level (good for placing the phone on your tripod and looking at your
watch while adjusting the legs).
-Day alignment.
-Moon phase/altitude.
-Moon/Sun rise/set/twilight end times.

Some screenshots from the Watch app:

Pro Watch Version

DONATIONS

Some people appreciate the continuous development of the app (updates are always
free) and ask me for ways to make small donations to show their appreciation.
For this reason, there is an in-app option in advanced settings to send a tip
(will remove ads from free version). If you want to send any amount as a gift,
you can use my donate button below (Paypal or credit/debit card):

WHAT’S NEW

For a list of features added per version visit this page.

MAIN SCREEN

CHOOSING A RETICLE

Hit the settings button and choose one of the available reticles. Currently
there are over 25 choices covering pretty much every polar scope and reticle in
the field. If you have a different reticle that you would like to see supported,
why not send me a photo and I will try to add it.

iOptron

iOptron (15-min marking)

Takahashi 1985-2015

Takahashi 2000-2030

Takahashi 2010-2050

Takahashi EM-200/400

Astro-Physics RAPAS

Vixen Polar Axis Scope

Vixen GP

Telrad

Tuthill Precision Polar Scope

Losmandy / Astrotrac / Kenko

Meade 9×60 Polar Viewfinder

Celestron 7×50 Polaris Finder

Vixen Atlux

Orion / Skywatcher 2012-2032

Classic Skywatcher / Celestron / Meade / Bresser / Orion

Old Skywatcher / Celestron / EXOS2

Kenko Skymemo RS

Old Celestron CG4/5 / Vixen

Konus 2000-2020

Explore Scientific 8×50 PolarFinder

Vixen PF-L

PASILL AstroPhysics – Carton

Generic Riflescope

ALIGNING RETICLE TO THE RA AXIS

Before using your polar scope for the very first time, you’d want to make sure
its reticle is centered – i.e. aligned with the RA axis. Some mounts might ship
with a perfectly aligned reticle, but most do not. It is easier to do the
adjustment during the day, so here is a 4-step process which you might have to
repeat at least a couple of times until an object stays dead-centered in your
polar scope when you rotate around the RA axis. Before starting remove the
telescope tube and the counterweights (and for some mounts rotate the DEC axis
until you can see through the polar scope).

POLAR ALIGNMENT HELP

Before beginning the polar alignment procedure for your polar scope type you
will want to set up your scope with your RA axis points roughly to the Celestial
Pole, so that you can see the Pole Star when looking through your polar scope.

The process then varies depending on your mount / polar scope, a brief
description for the various types follows.

PLEASE NOTE: The following are instructions from an old version of the app, that
can be useful to give you an idea of the process. However, for much improved and
up to date instructions always use the “Reticle Instructions” button in the
Settings screen of the app.

IOPTRON
TAKAHASHI EM-10/11/500, NJP, PM-1, P2-Z
NEW SYNTA (ORION / SKYWATCHER) 2012-2032
ASTRO-PHYSICS RAPAS

This is the type of reticle the app was originally made for. The difference from
other types of polar scopes is that the reticle is not supposed to rotate (in
fact the first step to using it is to make sure it is upright), instead software
tells you where to position Polaris / σ Oct in its grid. In order to make sure
it is perfectly upright, depending on your mount you might have a bubble level
near the polar scope that facilitates this, otherwise you will have to level the
tripod (with an integrated bubble level if provided) and find the “zero point”
of your RA axis (here is how to do that for an iOptron ZEQ25). Unfortunately,
Synta (Orion / Sky-watcher / Celestron) mounts do not have the reticle
pre-installed at the correct position in respect to the mount. For those, you
have to find the reticle zero point by a different method:

You don’t have to repeat the above procedure for every session. If you make sure
your mount is always level and the date/time/location correct, starting from
Polar Scope Align v2.5 you can press “set zero point” and enter the RA shown on
your hand-controller at that instant. Polar Scope Align will then always show
you the RA to rotate to using the hand-controller keys to get to the upright
reticle position.

After making sure the reticle is upright/level (meaning the 12 hour line is
exactly vertical), you simply have to match the app’s pole star position marked
with a yellow X to your polar scope view, using the altitude & azimuth
adjustment knobs of the mount.

Note that if your reticle has year markings, the Polar Star position might not
be exactly where the you would expect it based on these marks. This is normal,
as the app calculates the effect of atmospheric refraction for your location and
adjusts for more precise polar alignment. See the FAQ entry.

TAKAHASHI EM-200 / 400

Start by setting the offset scale on the RA housing to the value shown on the
upper left of the reticle and leveling the reticle (your RA axis should have a
bubble level for that). Next, you must match the current time in the inner
circle to the reticle’s date circle. Note that you should use your local time
zone (as long as it is not more than 15 degrees from your location) minus
daylight savings (the time and time zone you should use is shown on the upper
left of the app’s reticle for convenience).

After these steps you should have matched the app display and all you have to do
is use the altitude & azimuth adjustment knobs to put polaris at the precise
location shown on the app.

Note that the Polar Star position might not be exactly where the you would
expect it based on the Year marks. This is normal, as the app calculates the
effect of atmospheric refraction for your location and adjusts for more precise
polar alignment. See the FAQ entry.

“CLASSIC” SKYWATCHER / CELESTRON / MEADE / ORION / BRESSER ETC & OLDER VERSION

The most common reticle is very minimalist (just a small circle denoting polaris
and a large denoting its trajectory around the NCP) and found in various mounts
from Skywatcher, Celestron, Meade, Orion, Bresser etc. At least Skywatcher and
Orion have moved away from this reticle, however for the many people who have
them Polar Scope Align gives you the tools to achieve decent precision, even if
the reticle is made to be rather approximate. Some very old mounts from the
80s/90s might have a version without the large circle, but just a line featuring
a small circle for Polaris and an arcminute scale – those can actually give you
a bit extra precision.

Start by turning the RA axis so that the little Polaris circle points exactly
down from the center of the reticle. If you want to do it with a precision
better than just eyeballing I can suggest a couple of methods:

Now, if your mount has a resettable RA setting circle (e.g. Skywatcher
HEQ5), lock the RA axis then loosen the RA setting circle setscrew, set it to
zero and tighten. Look at the top left of the app reticle display. Turn the RA
axis, using the top scale of the setting circle, to the the “Prev” hour angle
shown (or you can use the bottom scale with the “Next” hour angle).However, if
your mount has only a digital RA readout (e.g. a Celestron goto mount) or a
fixed RA setting circle that you cannot set to zero, then you have to add the
“Next” hour angle or deduct the “Prev” hour angle from the RA readout at zero
position and move to it. In the below example, if at zero position (Polaris
circle pointing down) your Hand Controller (or the RA setting circle) is showing
an R.A. of 03h01m and the app reports Prev: 22:40 Next: 01:20, then you add
01:20 to 03:01 (or, a bit harder, deduct 22:40 from 03:01) to find 04:21 and use
the R.A. +/- hand controller keys (or manually turn the RA for a non
computerized mount) to slew to 04:21 R.A., at which position the reticle pattern
rotation should perfectly match what is shown in the app.

The app can help you with the calculation if you wish: Click the “Set zero
position” and enter the R.A. at zero position (the 03h 01m in the previous
example) press Done and the app will show the “Zero adjusted” reading, to which
you can rotate your RA axis. The nice thing about this feature is that if you
make sure you always level your mount and have the right time/location (for GoTo
mounts), you will only need to “Set zero position” once – the next time going
directly to the “Zero adjusted” position should give you the reticle at the
correct orientation for alignment without the process of checking whether the
reticle is vertical etc. Please not that some mounts may need to be star-aligned
at least once before using the “Set zero position” feature in order for the zero
position setting to be repeatable.

At this point, for both above cases, your reticle is correctly rotated and all
that is left is to use the altitude and azimuth adjustment knobs of the mount to
match the Polaris position in your reticle to the app display. You will note
that the yellow Polaris position mark on the app might not fall in the Polaris
circle. This is because Polaris moves closer to the celestial pole as the years
pass, so to improve precision you will have to try and match that movement. If
your reticle has an arcminute scale (usually 40′ to 60′), use the top value on
the lower left of the app reticle. If your reticle does not have such a scale,
you can try to match the app display visually. Note that the app shows an epoch
2000 reticle where the Polaris circle is 44′ from the pole. It is possible that
your mount might not be showing epoch 2000 (mine was a bit off), so Polar Scope
Align now has a function that allows you to calibrate the epoch of your reticle
so that the app will show you the most accurate display possible. To do this,
you will have to polar align via another method, preferably drift alignment,
otherwise a careful Celestron all-star polar alignment might do it – see the
“Calibrate Epoch” function on the settings screen after you have selected the
“Classic” reticle.

Please note that the Prev/Next values shown are optimized to give you the best
precision, so they include the effect of atmospheric refraction, thus should not
be assumed to be exactly indicating the Next or Previous Polaris peak as you
might expect (or as you might find in other apps).

LOSMANDY, ASTROTRAC, KENKO

This type of reticle is found in the Astrotrac, Kenko Sky Memo and some other
mounts like the Losmandy G11. In general this reticle type is not designed to
offer the precision of more advanced reticles (the polar scope view is lower
magnification), however, Polar Scope Align will improve your precision,
especially if your mount has RA axis setting circles (or an RA digital readout).

For the classic Astrotrac, or any mount that does not have RA axis setting
circles (or a digital readout), you will have to use the reticle as designed by
putting the stars in the specified markers. If you are on a low latitude, Polar
Scope Align can help you adjust for the effect of atmospheric refraction. For
this, go to Advanced Settings in the app (v2.6+) and enable “Show refraction”.
Then align your polar scope as you would with the reticle and then look at the
app display:

You would have placed Polaris where the orange X mark is located. Using the
altitude adjustment move your mount downwards, so that Polaris moves up (the
polar scope is inverted) to where the pinkish cross is located to correct for
the refraction effect at your latitude.

For mounts with an RA scale, start by turning the RA axis so that the Polaris
points exactly down from the center of the reticle. If you want a method to
achieve that more accurately than eyeballing:

At this point all that is left is to use the altitude and azimuth adjustment
knobs of the mount to match the Polaris position in your reticle to the app
display. Note that you might have a version of the reticle with different year
markings for the Polaris line gap, the year number indicated on the lower left
of the app reticle should help you with the proper positioning.

MEADE 9×60 RA POLAR VIEWFINDER / CELESTRON 8×50 POLARIS FINDERSCOPE

This reticle was used on the Meade 9×60 (and the less common 8×50) Right Angle
Polar Viewfinder, usually with the 2080 and 2120 fork mounts. It came with a
“Polar Reference Circle” card for calculating the position of Polaris for epoch
1975-1995. If you have a straight-through version (not sure if it exists), you’d
need to switch to “inverted” in the advanced settings.

Polar Scope Align simply replaces Meade’s Reference Circle, so you follow your
manual’s instructions by making sure the Polar Viewfinder is aligned with the
telescope tube, then setting the declination to 90 degrees and rotating in RA
until one of the cross hairs is exactly vertical to the horizon. Finally, you
try to match the Polaris position on the Viewfinder to the Polar Scope Align app
display by moving the telescope in altitude (the wedge tilt plate) and azimuth
(wedge rotation).

VIXEN POLAR AXIS SCOPE

Northern Hemisphere: Start by setting the East/West offset (distance from
standard time meridian) indicator to the value shown on the upper left of the
reticle (turn the eyepiece while holding the date circle). Next, by rotating the
eyepiece you match the observing time with the date graduation circle. Note that
you should use your local time zone (as long as it is not more than 15 degrees
from your location) minus daylight savings (the time and time zone you should
use is shown on the upper left of the app’s reticle for convenience). Make sure
the Polar scope is level (use the supplied water/bubble level).

After these steps you should have matched the app display and all you have to do
is use the altitude & azimuth adjustment knobs to put polaris at the precise
location shown on the app. Note that the Polar Star position might not be
exactly where the you would expect it based on the Year marks. This is normal,
as the app calculates the effect of atmospheric refraction for your location and
adjusts for more precise polar alignment. See the FAQ entry.

Southern Hemisphere: The Vixen reticle does not normally offer precision when
aligning σ Octantis. However, Polar Scope Align offers a method that should get
you to within 2-3′ from perfect polar alignment. All you have to do, is to align
the date circle and the time circle on your polar scope exactly the way shown on
the app display (while keeping the East/West offset to zero) and make sure it is
level using the integrated bubble/water level. Then, you position σ Oct in a way
matching the app display as best as you can. You will note that the σ Oct yellow
target is probably farther away from the center than the little circle meant for
it. This is because apparently the Vixen Polar Axis Scopes sold at least up to
the mid-2010’s are drawing σ Oct in the 1995 epoch, when it was closer to the
South Celestial Pole, so you should try to match that offset when polar
aligning.

VIXEN GP/GP-DX

Since the supported Vixen GP reticle is epoch 2000 (which is around the year
when Polaris would fall near the center of the little circle – at least for not
too low latitudes), you will actually achieve better accuracy by using the
“Older Skywatcher / Celestron” reticle available in the app. In that case you
will follow that reticle’s instructions which involve finding the position where
the Polaris line points exactly down and from this point rotating the RA (using
the 24 hour dial as reference) by the amount shown on the top left of the app
reticle (“Prev”) – see that reticle’s detailed instructions.

It is still possible to use the Vixen GP polar scope with the original method if
you prefer (but only for the Northern Hemisphere). In this case start by setting
the time meridian offset scale to the amount towards E or W that the app
calculates and shows on the top left of the reticle. Set 0 hour on the RA hour
ring to the RA indicator after loosening the setscrew, then re-tighten the
setscrew. Unfasten the RA clamp and turn the telescope to match the observing
time with the observing date, as shown on the app reticle display. Using your
altitude/azimuth adjustment bolts match the Polaris position in your polar scope
compared to the Polaris circle, to what the app shows. As noted, Polaris will
most likely not be inside the circle.

TELRAD

To use the Telrad as a polar finder, apart from aligning the Telrad to your
optical tube, you also have to align the optical tube precisely with the RA
axis. This might not be easy for a German Equatorial, however for a typical SCT
fork-style mount, it involves finding the exact DEC position (theoretically at
90 degrees) where rotating the RA axis rotates your view around the center of
your telescope eyepiece (and thus the Telrad, aligned to the telescope). After
achieving this, you only use the azimuth and altitude (wedge bolt for fork
mounts) controls to put Polaris at the proper position on your Telrad sight,
without touching the DEC control.

While you can use the Polar Scope Align display just to get a rough idea of
where to put polaris in your sight, you can increase your accuracy by rotating
your RA by the amount shown on the upper left (given for both directions) and
using the top gap of the Telrad middle circle to better judge the Polaris
position.

TUTHILL PRECISION POLAR FINDER

The Tuthill manuals gave a method to calculate the angle to which you would
rotate the sight depending the date/time and location. Since those manuals were
using the location of Polaris in the 80’s, they are no longer applicable, but
you can rely on Polar Scope Align to give you the correct angle. One problem is
that the Tuthill finder was adjusted for a specific epoch, so with Polaris
getting closer to the celestial pole as years pass you will be aiming further
away from the celestial pole, unless you try to compensate (for reference, Polar
Scope Align draws an epoch 1990 sight which might or might not be close to what
you have).

It would be possible to adjust your Tuthill to the current epoch. One way to do
it without any special equipment requires you to first do a precise
drift-alignment of your scope. Once you complete the (not very easy)
drift-alignment process, rotate the Tuthill dial to the setting that Polar Scope
Align shows at that moment of time and use the adjustment screws (the ones that
the manual warns you about touching) to bring Polaris to the center of the
cross-hairs. I do not own a Tuthill, so I do not know how easy this procedure
is, but in theory it should allow you to adjust your Polar Finder to the current
epoch.

CALCULATING RETICLE CENTERING ERROR

Going to Settings and hitting “Calculate Polar Scope Reticle Centering Error”
will start a wizard which you can follow to both calculate the error and also
correct it for more accurate polar alignment. Try to complete the entire process
in 2-3 minutes for best results.

STEP 1:

Position the polar star where the display shows you in your Polar Scope reticle
by adjusting your mount’s alt-az controls. Try to be as precise as possible.
Press Next > on the app.

STEP 2:

Rotate your RA axis exactly 90° counter clock-wise (as you are looking towards
the Pole), so that the reticle line that was horizontal and pointing to the
right, now points upwards. Swipe your finger on the app reticle area and move
the dashed cross so that it centers to where you currently see the polar star in
your reticle. Try to be as accurate as possible, but don’t take too long – you
don’t want the polar star to have moved much in the meantime. Hit Next >.

STEP 3:

Rotate your RA axis exactly 180°. You should now be 90° clock-wise from the
original position, so that the reticle line that was horizontal and pointing
left is now pointing upwards. Move the dashed cross again so that it targets
where the polar star shows up in your reticle. Again be as accurate and quick as
possible. Hit Next >.

STEP 4:

The app will have calculated your centering error. If it is more than 1.5
arcminutes, a correction will show up as a dashed cross. Return your RA axis in
its original position. You now have two options.

If your reticle can be easily adjusted: Use your mount’s Alt-Az controls to
position the polar star in your reticle exactly where the center of the dashed
cross would indicate. Then use your polar scope reticle adjustment screws to
move the polar star to where the regular calculated position (marked by an
orange X) would be. You can re-run the wizard to verify you no longer have a
centering error.

If your reticle cannot be easily adjusted (e.g. iOptron ZEQ25): After hitting
“Done” to accept the correction, your app reticle display will always have a
“corrected” dashed cross. Just use this as your polar star target for polar
alignment instead of the regular (orange “X”) mark, to compensate for your
centering error.

XASTERIA WEATHER REPORT

Polar Scope Align Pro contains a version of the free Xasteria World Weather
Report, with the addition of the ability to switch to night-mode (with a dimmer
as well like the rest of the app) and the support of the location manager with
the ability to search for locations (online or offline) and save them as
favorites. For more information about the weather report, see the Xasteria page.

DEEP SPACE OBJECT DATABASE

The DSO Database contains over 13000 objects from several catalogs in the PRO
version, while it has the Messier and Caldwell catalogs for the non-pro
versions. You can filter the list by catalog, object type, position, brightness
etc and sort them any way you like.

PUSH-TO GOTO

If you do not have a goto mount, you can use the PushTo functionality with which
the app will let you find targets with your manual scope. Read more about the
function here.

FILTERS / SORTING

Several filters are available to hide objects that are of no interest. For
example, limiting altitude to 0 degrees will only show objects that are over the
horizon at that moment (or you might want to use something like 15-20 degrees
since objects too low don’t make great targets). You can limit by minimum
magnitude, brightness and angular size, however be aware that this type of data
is not available for all objects. For example, surface brightness is available
mainly for galaxies, to still show the rest of the objects when you are
filtering by minimum surface brightness use the “Show when missing data” option.

Various sorting options are also available, which can be applied in either
ascending or descending order. Note that you can sort objects by distance from a
specific object – just go to the object list, click to show details of an object
and hit the sort button. You can reverse the order to descending distance, if
you go back to the sorting configuration screen and click the “Descending”
button.

SETTINGS

You can choose whether to prefer arcmin (‘) or arcsec (“) to be shown, as well
as whether you want equatorial coordinates or alt-az in the list view.

DATA SOURCES

Multiple sources have been combined and cross-checked as much as possible for
the DSO database. Among them: Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke’s Revised NGC/IC (with
permission), Saguaro Astronomy Club, SIMBAD, VizieR, Courtney Seligman’s
Celestian Atlas, Sloan Digital Sky Survey and more.

CALCULATORS

Over 30 calculators are available (for the Pro versions), split in three
categories, depending whether they are more useful for observing, imaging or
other applications. The calculators always remember your last entries, and their
order can be rearranged at will, so that you can easily find your favorites. The
list can also be filtered by calculator type using the buttons on the top. The
list of calculators at the release of version 4.4 was:

* Eyepiece Magnification
* Eyepiece Field of View
* Eyepiece Exit Pupil
* Maximum Field of View
* Telescope f/ratio
* Eyepiece Projection Focal Length
* Field of View for Imaging System
* Resolution (arcsec/px) & focal length for Imaging System
* Focal Length and Object Size
* Focal Reducer Reduction
* Focal Reducer In-Focus
* F/ratio ~ Brightness/Exposure increase
* Brightness ratio from Magnitude
* Julian Date
* Hour Angle ~ Degrees Converter
* Equatorial Coordinates ~ Alt-Azimuth Coordinates
* Frame rate ~ Exposure
* Parsecs ~ Light Years Converter
* Light Years ~ Miles/Km Converter
* Lunar Feature Image Size
* Actual size of lunar view
* % Speed of light ~ miles/km per sec
* Special relativity time dilation
* Solar Feature Size
* Telescope Light Gathering
* DSLR Exposure
* Telescope Limiting Magnitude
* Equatorial – Ecliptic Coordinates
* General Relativity Time dilation
* Fahrenheit – Celsius

DAYTIME POLAR ALIGNMENT

Polar scope Align Pro assists you in daylight polar alignment, useful for solar
observing / eclipses, or also for night-time alignment where you don’t have a
line of sight to the polar star. See details in this blog post.

ACCURACY

Polar Scope Align is designed to be accurate within a few arcseconds. If you
want to check its accuracy, you can select the Astro-Physics RAPAS reticle which
is upright and has an Hour Angle measurement format similar to planetarium
software and check the result against a good such software like Stellarium or
Cartes du ciel. In fact, Polar Scope Align is a bit more accurate than old
versions of Stellarium (the difference is less than 20 arcsec, so barely visible
in a polar scope), as it includes stellar aberration and nutation calculations,
so you’d have to disable them from Advanced Settings to precisely match e.g.
Stellarium 0.13.3. Example comparison screenshot with Polar Scope Align’s Hour
Angle within 5 seconds of Stellarium (make sure you have enabled “atmosphere“ in
Stellarium settings):

Polar Scope Align vs Stellarium 0.13.3 (click to enlarge)

This does not mean that you can find many other sources agreeing with Polar
Scope Align and Stellarium*. Most apps in my experience have either significant
errors in their calculations, or disregard atmospheric refraction (or both).
Another accurate and popular planetarium program is Cartes du Ciel, which
actually includes aberration and nutation in the Polaris hour angle, but does
not include refraction. This means that when you select “apparent coordinates“
in CdC and enable aberration and nutation but disable refraction in Polar Scope
Align, you can match the hour angle within a couple of seconds. Also, Polar
Scope Align matches the transit times calculated by the US Naval Office, so you
can cross-check with that.

* Strangely, newer Stellarium versions (0.15+) have changed their calculations
and now can be up to a minute off compared to Polar Scope Align. As PS Align
matches the USNO transit times and Stellarium no longer does, I am not very
worried about the discrepancy. Plus, the difference with current Stellarium is
so small that it is not actually visible in a Polar Scope.

FAQ

* Will there be an Android version?

My own main phone is an Android, so I’d like to do an Android version at some
point. However due to my regular job it was much easier for me to work on iOS
where I had development experience – I’ve never worked with Android or similar.
Hence I’d need to find quite some spare time to do it and that seems quite
unlikely for the near future. Sorry.

* Why doesn’t the bubble level or the daytime alignment work (I get no
heading)? (Pro only)

Go to your deviceSettings -> Privacy -> Location Services. Make sure Location
services is On, that Polar Scope Align Pro is listed as “While Using” (i.e. it
is authorized to use your location) and then scroll down and go at the bottom to
“System Services” and see if anything (esp. if it seems important) is disabled
(e.g. compass calibration, share my location).

* How to zoom the eyepiece reticle view? (Pro only)

If you have the Pro version you can click the magnifier button on the bottom of
the display which will zoom into the polar star position and let you further
zoom in and out with the traditional pinch/pull gestures.

* Why is the date off by one day?

Up to version 2.6 the main date/time fields are in Universal Time, so if you are
not on the GMT time zone, your time zone date and the UTC date can be different
for a few hours per day (e.g. if you are on EST, the app will switch to the next
calendar date 5 hours earlier than your local time zone). This was by design,
since setting up a scope in UTC can avoid confusion about time zones, DST etc.
especially when you travel, and it was my own preference (I made the app just
for me originally). From version 2.7 the app shows local time/date by default,
with UTC shown under LST (and a day offset next to it). If you prefer the old
style with a UTC main display you can still go to Setting->Advanced Settings and
enable “Date/time in UTC”.

* What is “Force GPS”?

Normally, iPhone apps rely on iOS’s radio-based location services which save
battery and so does Polar Scope Align. However, if you travel to a rural area
with no nearby cell coverage, you might want to turn on the GPS satellite
location service for a while, which is what the “Force GPS” option will do.

Example of corrected Polaris location for a latitude of 25° (e.g. Florida) for
some time in 2015. Note this is an upright Astrophysics RAPAS reticle.

* Why is Polaris/σ Oct not moving in a perfect circle according to the app? /
My reticle has “2010-2040” circle markings, why does the app deviate from
those? / Why is the position I get with Polar Scope Align different from some
other apps?

The lower a star is in the horizon, the more it will be affected by atmospheric
refraction. The phenomenon is due to the air density variations that the light
from the star goes through before reaching you and has the effect of making the
star appear higher than it really is. If you are at a latitude of more than
around 45° the refraction is less than an arcminute, so you are not to worry
about it. However, at lower latitudes it should be taken into consideration for
accurate polar alignment, as it can reach up to 35 arcminutes near the equator.
Some software do not do this calculation so they will give you slightly
different results than Polar Scope Align, with the polar star always on a
perfect circle around the celestial pole. See on the right an example for
someone observing from a latitude of 25°, with the white circle denoting
Polaris’ location throughout the day showing an upwards offset (for a common
straight-through polar scope the offset would be downwards). So, even thought it
is 2015 you might have to align by putting Polaris on the 2010 or the 2020
circle depending the time of day (or even further for lower still latitudes).
See also the “Accuracy” chapter above.

* Would the white light (i.e. white screen) on an iPad be a good idea for flat
frames on smaller aperture scopes like refractors? (Pro only)

Yes! This is of course a “trick” FAQ, in the sense I don’t expect it to be a
frequent question, but I wanted to note the reason I added the color slider for
the (originally just red) light. So, when I want to take flats with my 80ED, I
use the app on an iPad and switch on the red light, turning it to white and
putting the iPad in front of my front aperture. More elegant than my previous
method of having a white .jpeg photo open in an image viewer 😉

* What is the difference between accelerometer and gyro for the bubble level?
(Pro only)

Newer phones have a gyro in addition to the accelerometer, which should be more
precise, so you should leave the setting at “gyro”. However, I have had phones
where the gyro failed (along with the WiFi on an iPhone 4S), so this option is a
sort of “backup” for those cases.

* Is the compass accurate? Does it show true or magnetic North? (Pro only)

The magnetometer on all phones often requires calibration to perform accurately.
To make sure you are getting an accurate reading, try waving your phone in a
figure “8”. I have to warn you though that the accuracy of digital compasses
varies significantly – I have found that it is usually better on newer iPhones
than iPads for example, and in general a “classic” physical compass will be more
accurate (as long as you apply the magnetic declination correction correction to
the magnetic North heading of the compass). The compass in the bubble level
automatically applies the correction and points towards the true North.

* I am using a polar scope that you don’t support. Can you add it?

I probably can. Contact me with details, images etc.

* What is the rotate icon for? (Pro only)

For mounts on which the Polar Scope view is always unobstructed (e.g. iOptron
ZEQ25, CEM60 and also trackers like the Sky-watcher Star Adventurer), you can
check to make sure your polar alignment is correct, while you are tracking an
object. E.g. if I bump my scope a bit or the tracking seems a bit off in
general, I can verify with a quick look through the polar scope, without even
going back to the home position. Also, if you have a heavy scope on a light
mount (as it is the case with my C9.25 on my iOptron ZEQ25) it is possible that
there is some flexure that affects the polar alignment when the scope moves to a
target. By correcting the polar alignment once you are on your target with Polar
Scope Align Pro you can achieve longer unguided exposures in these situations.

* Do you recommend a specific iOS version and/or specific device?

Polar Scope Align works on iOS 7 and up (iOS 9 for the Watch Version) and I do
try to test with many iOS versions, so iOS version should not matter much. As
for the actual device, the non-Pro version of Polar Scope Align that does not
have a zoom screen is much easier to use on an iPad. The Pro version with the
zoom view is great on an iPhone too, but the smaller-screen iPhones do look
rather cramped. Also note that the wifi-only iPads lack a GPS radio receiver, so
if you plan to use the app far from cell phone towers you’d need an iPhone or a
wifi+cellular iPad. Also, the iPod Touch lacks the GPS received and also gyro
and magnetometer (digital compass), so some Pro functionality that depends on it
will not be available.

* How accurate does my location have to be?

It doesn’t have to be very accurate, within a few km is fine, as Polar Scopes
are not more accurate than that. The more important issues are the correct
centering of your polar scope reticle and having an app such as Polar Scope
Align that does a good job of calculating the position of the Polar star.

* Why are there only 3 polar scope types (Inverted, Right Angle, Correct) in
the Advanced Settings screen?

You might have seen independent flip horizontal/flip vertical controls on other
apps which give you 4 combinations of polar scope types based on their viewing
type. Polar Scope Align only shows the 3 combinations that are actually possible
in a polar scope, although the vast majority of polar scopes just has a 180
degree rotated view, or “Inverted” like looking through a straight-through
refractor. In fact, when you select a reticle, the reticle-type is auto-selected
so you should not change this unless you have a pretty non-standard
configuration.

* What does refracted north / true north polar alignment mean? What’s the
difference?hy are there only 3 polar scope types (Inverted, Right Angle,
Correct) in the Advanced Settings screen?

If refraction calculation is enabled in advanced settings, your polar alignment
will be to the true celestial pole, i.e. the actual point in the sky the earth
axis points to. If you disable atmospheric refraction calculation, your RA axis
will be pointing to the refracted pole, which is where the celestial pole seems
to be after the atmosphere has bent the light coming from it. For objects high
in the sky, which is what we usually target, an alignment to the true north will
provide better tracking, especially in now latitudes – hence that is the default
behavior. However, if we are aiming at relatively low targets which themselves
are subject to refraction, it is possible that an alignment to the refracted
pole (i.e. disabling refraction calculation) might perform better for those
target.

* What is Clay’s Kochab Clock?

If you click on the underlined name of the polar star on the main screen, you
will get extended info on the star. Among this info, there are 4 times that mark
when the polar star will be exactly N, E, S, W of the celestial pole. Clay’s
Kochab Clock is an alignment method which uses the fact that the North Celestial
Pole, Polaris and the star Kochab are along pretty much a straight line. While
that method is not as accurate as what Polar Scope Align normally attempts,
inspired from that method the four times that can provide the easiest alignment
for some mounts lacking RA grading/setting circles are listed. At the times
listed for polaris directly N/S of the NCP, you center your polar scope on
Polaris then use only the vertical controls of your mount to bring it to where
the app display shows. Similar for the E/W times, you only use your horizontal
controls. Of course this requires your tripod to be level, but takes the
rotation of the reticle out of the equation. Also, this can be applied to South
hemisphere alignment (unlike the full Kochab method).

* Why doesn’t the app always rotate to landscape?

The interface was built to take advantage even the smallest screen and was
optimized for portrait mode, so it will not fit an iPhone landscape mode. Hence,
landscape is only available for iPads – and that only for the Pro version, as
landscape mode is only really helpfull for Pro tools like Xasteria. Furthermore,
the Bubble Level and the Daytime Alignment tool would be disruptive if they
changed orientation while you were using them, so they are always portrait-mode.
Lastly, the Settings screen requires a redesign to fit even on an iPad landscape
view, which is so far not a priority.

* Why are some NGC/IC missing from the DSO database? Why do some NGC/IC objects
have “A, B, C” or “-1, -2” variants? (Pro only)

The original NGC/IC catalogs contained many errors when they were created
(non-existent objects, duplicates etc). These have been addressed as best as
possible. Objects that were listed but cannot be found do not appear on the DB.
Objects that were listed more than one time get a single entry. Some objects are
actually more than one, e.g. 2 galaxies that were thought to be a single one,
these get a separate entry with a suffix. Also, included for completion, are
some objects that should not really be in the catalog, as they were not actually
seen when the catalog was compiled, but due to proximity/association commonly
listed with an NGC number and a letter appended.

* Why are there 399 “Herschel 400” objects? (Pro only)

Herschel catalogued a planetary nebula as two separate objects, so NGC2371 and
NGC2372 are properly shown as a single nebula in the database and these two
Herschel objects count as one.

Also: Xasteria FAQ

DATA SHARE POLICY

From version 3.5, after an upgrade of an existing app installation, Polar Scope
Align will report the iOS version, and basic app stats about which reticle and
which tools were used from the previous version. This data is of course
completely anonymous and will not be shared (unless I make something like a pie
chart to share with people), but will help me decide which features I should
work on. The original reason for this report is to see whether there are iOS 6/7
users, as supporting those old iOS versions requires extra work.

SUPPORT

If you have any questions or problems with your app, the quickest solution is to
use the Contact page to write directly to the developer. Or you can post your
suggestions, questions in the comments below

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142 THOUGHTS ON “POLAR SCOPE ALIGN FOR IOS”

1. Dennis ng says:
April 13, 2015 at 01:38

If you can save one place and time, can you save a few. In fact can you let
me to have a simple file to save that as iTune download file (I can do
apple programming, json Xml … But I guess normal user just use plain text).
Not that important I guess.

Reply
* ecuador says:
April 13, 2015 at 10:16

Hmm, I never thought of that, I don’t suppose it applies to many usage
scenarios, but it would not be that hard to add. Although I have to first
think of a way to make it simple/clear to use without messing up the UI.

Reply
* ecuador says:
September 7, 2015 at 14:09

You might be interested to know that the version currently waiting to be
tested by Apple allows you to save “favorite” locations (as well as
select from known cities). So in about a week or so update to v1.7 and
you’ll have it! 😉

Reply
2. Derrick says:
May 13, 2015 at 17:04

Great app! Would you be able to do a reticle for the astrotrac?

Reply
* ecuador says:
May 13, 2015 at 17:41

Glad you like it. The app is meant to support polar scopes with reticles
that are not rotated, but provide a grid for you to position Polaris.
Unless I am mistaken, the astrotrac has the other kind, where you rotate
the reticle (either by matching extra stars beyond the Polar Star, or by
aligning date/time rings like the Tak EM200 etc) and such reticles are
not supported for two reasons: big app change required and there is not
much help an app could provide to users of such reticles (that’s their
appeal I guess). Unless the astrotrac also has a reticle that does not
align using stars so an app would be useful – in that case I would look
at it.
Thanks!

Reply
* ecuador says:
December 8, 2015 at 04:25

Astrotrac is now supported.

Reply
3. Paulo Pina says:
July 5, 2015 at 10:14

Dera SIR.

How can I use your software with my mount ?

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 4, 2015 at 18:59

Version 2.0 just released has full support for the EM-200/400 polar
scope.

Reply
4. Mike says:
July 11, 2015 at 06:01

Any chance you can do this great app for android? quite a few members of my
astro group use android phones.
Keep up the good work
Many thanks
Mike

Reply
* ecuador says:
July 11, 2015 at 09:07

Hi. I am more of an Android user myself, so I will try to find the time
to port it. Due to my work experience it was much quicker for me to write
it for iOS (it started as a quick tool for myself) – as I’ve never worked
on Android I will have to find enough time to go for it.
Cheers!

Reply
* Scott says:
June 10, 2022 at 00:49

Hi. I do hope you will create a version for Android. That’s one app I
greatly miss after switching from iPhone to Samsung. Makes me wish I
had not traded in the old phone. Thanks.

Reply
5. Andrea Marinelli says:
August 29, 2015 at 18:21

I’m glad ’cause I found a very important for my passion , I wanted to ask
if you can We add the mounts Neq6 SynScan , many thanks .

Reply
* ecuador says:
August 29, 2015 at 23:46

It requires a bit different treatment because it rotates, but I will try
to add it if find the time. Cheers.

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 4, 2015 at 18:58

The just released version 2.0 should have the reticle you are using.

Reply
6. Vipin says:
September 11, 2015 at 09:57

Your faq says “the longitude offset that the Takahashi EM200/400 users have
to calculate (from their time zone central meridian) is displayed when one
of the supported Takahashi reticles is selected”. Where in the UI do I see
this ?

Reply
* ecuador says:
September 11, 2015 at 10:45

In the non-pro version it is above and to the left of the reticle. For
the Pro, you will have to wait a few days (should be less than a week)
for the latest version with many new features to get approved by Apple.

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 4, 2015 at 18:57

The new v2.0 just released has full support of the EM-200/400 reticle.

Reply
7. Ed Amarante says:
September 24, 2015 at 13:28

Hello
I recently installed the Polar Scope Align Pro app on my iPhone 5s and it
worked fine. After downloading
version 1.7, and upgrading my phone to ISO 9, I’m having a problem with it.
I use an iOptron polar scope
adapted to fit a Losmandy G11 mount. The polar scope rotates with the polar
axis with this mount. Being
able to check polar alignment with the Polar Scope Align app while
observing by entering the RA of an
object is a great feature. The problem I am having, is with this feature.
As I upgraded both the app version,
and the ISO, I don’t know what caused the problem.
This is the problem. Before the upgrade when I clicked on the icon for the
screen to enter the RA of an
object the screen showed the reticle with the 12 hour at the top. When I
entered the RA it would rotate
the reticle image for the new Polaris position. After the upgrades this
screen never starts with the 12 hour
at the top. It always show something different. If you email me I can send
you screen shots. Your help would be greatly appreciated, as I like this
app. especially this feature.
Regards and thank you
Ed Amarante

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 1, 2015 at 10:48

Already answered Ed in email, but in case anyone else wonders about it,
the rotated reticle screen starts rotated as it would be if you were
tracking an object with an RA of 00:00. Also, for German Equatorial
mounts depending on your declination axis orientation, your polar scope
might have an obstructed view, so this feature is primarily for iOptron
ZEQ/CEM users.

Reply
8. Bruce says:
October 1, 2015 at 04:21

I also have a Synscan rotating reticle on the polar scope that came with my
Atlas Pro mount. The design of the reticle has changed and no longer has
the lollipop circle and pics of Ursa Major & Cassiopeia. It now resembles
the Takahashi reticles. The only problem is there’s no constellation pics
to line up with. Can your app help me to get a precise polar alignment?
Thanks

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 1, 2015 at 10:44

If I had an image of the reticle I should be able to help. Emailed you
about it.

Reply
* Bruce says:
November 2, 2015 at 02:50

Hi,
I tested beta v2.04 last night and got a very close alignment by just
using the polar scope and your app! A couple of weeks ago I had the
same experience! The new Orion reticle combined with your compensation
for atmospheric diffraction really works for me. It’s great to spend
less time aligning and more time imaging!
Thank You

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 2, 2015 at 11:18

Glad to hear it!

Reply
9. David Anderson says:
October 28, 2015 at 16:38

Hi, I have downloaded Polar Scope Align Pro on to my iPhone 6. I have a
Takahashi Temma EM-200 2M mount. I notice that the Temma 200 reticle in the
program for 2000-2030 is not the same as the one I have. Apart from
calculating the offset correctly can I use this App to polar align my
mount??

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 28, 2015 at 17:03

Hello David. The EM-200 uses a different style polar scope than the ones
this app was made for. Since I did have some users ask about EM-200 I
added the offset calculation, which seems to confused people instead of
helping. So you’ll be happy to know that version 2.0 of the app properly
supports the EM-200 & EM-400 polar scopes and is in fact finished and
waiting for Apple review, so it could be less than a week wait.

Reply
* David Anderson says:
October 28, 2015 at 17:10

Sounds good…let me know when its available or will I keep checking the
App store?
David

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 28, 2015 at 17:25

If you want to try it earlier, I can add you to the beta test list.

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 4, 2015 at 18:55

Aaand it’s out! 😉

Reply
10. Gerard Williams says:
December 12, 2015 at 14:07

Dimitrios,

First love your app and it does certainly make polar alignment easier with
my mounts. My only comment is on my Takahashi EM-200 (about two years old)
my scope years actually go from 2000-2030. You screen goes to 2050 so I
have to make the necessary estimate for the correct year. Any chance of
adding a screen for that scope?

Thanks,

Gerard Williams

Reply
* ecuador says:
December 12, 2015 at 21:28

Ok, we’ll do something about it! (see email)

Reply
11. Dykes Cupstid says:
December 26, 2015 at 05:21

I just got Polar Align Pro. I am using the Celestron reticle. I have Polar
Align Pro set for inverted image. I also have SkySafari Pro. I have
SkySafari Pro set for vertical flip of image. This should give me the same
relative position of Polaris to the NCP as Polar Align Pro but it does not.
Polar Align Pro seems to also be horizontally flipping the image.

If I set SkySafari to flip the image both vertically and horizontally I get
a close match with Polar Align Pro.

The polar scope is straight through so only a vertical flip should be
required.

Why aren’t Polar Align Pro and SkySafari showing the same positions for
Polaris when both are set for inverted (vertical flip) of the image?

Reply
* ecuador says:
December 26, 2015 at 12:29

Hello. Refractor telescopes do not show a vertically flipped image, but
an “upside-down” view which is what you get when you rotate by 180
degrees (which you can also get by applying both a vertical and a
horizontal flip). If you were hanging from the ceiling looking through a
straight-through telescope you would see everything “correct”. Flipping
is what mirrors do. For example, if we use a diagonal mirror we can
“flip” this upside down view I described, but then it will still be
backwards (mirrored, left-right reversed). To avoid any confusion Polar
Scope Align does not let you independently control horizontal/vertical
flip, but only gives you the three possible combinations and auto-selects
the right one depending the selected reticle.
Hope this helps!

Reply
12. Karl says:
December 28, 2015 at 07:05

Hello,
Have you ported your polar alignment software to Android devices? You
mentioned that you were considering the port and I would appreciate an
update on your port to Android.
Thanks

Reply
* ecuador says:
December 28, 2015 at 12:23

Hi. I still haven’t found the time for Android and my schedule is full
for the next couple of months. I’ll let you know if that changes. Sorry.

Reply
13. Tony says:
January 30, 2016 at 22:37

I’m comparing your app with the iOptron one and the do not agree on the
position of Polaris. Your app says 7:56 and iOptron says 8:17.4 that’s
quite a big difference. I’m at around 49 N and 124 W.

Reply
* ecuador says:
January 30, 2016 at 23:38

Polar Scope Align agrees with the more precise planetarium programs like
Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel (depending on the settings you choose)
please see above in the “Accuracy” section for more details. You can’t
compare it to the iOptron app and most similar apps since those are a bit
off either due to errors or not taking into account the effect of the
atmosphere etc.

Reply
14. Peter says:
March 5, 2016 at 16:52

Hello

Great app… love the weather page (Xasteria) used it so much that I am
missing it due to a server error -1001 so cant connect ….. hope you can fix
this soon

Reply
* ecuador says:
March 5, 2016 at 20:03

Hi. Unfortunately the 7Timer! service that the app is using seems to be
down at the moment. If it doesn’t come back up I will probably have to
look for another similar service, but hopefully it is just a temporary
glitch.

Reply
15. Peter says:
March 6, 2016 at 21:26

Thanks for the update

Reply
16. Riichard Poitevin says:
March 28, 2016 at 21:29

I have no idea how hard this would be to do,
but I REALLY need a Windows version….Please!

This summer I will be taking my iOptron SkyGuider
to where there is no cell phone or internet service and no electricity
except for what comes out of my generator. I already have
all my gps coordinates and an accurate clock but need those
Polaris positions. Your program seems to be excellent as well
as the only one of its kind!

Reply
* ecuador says:
March 29, 2016 at 13:55

I am afraid it would be quite a lot of work, it is not easy to port from
iOS to Windows. And if I have time (which I don’t right now), an Android
port would take precedence I am afraid… However, if you have a Windows
machine with you that works with the generator, you could also charge
your iPhone/iPad. Polar Scope Align does not need cell phone service (if
you have trouble getting the location without cell service tap “Force
GPS” in Settings). In fact Polar Scope Align Pro does not even need GPS,
you can input your location directly.
Have fun on your trip!

Reply
* Riichard Poitevin says:
April 1, 2016 at 11:46

How would I input my location directly?
Using GPS coordinates obtained from other sources?

I was told that newer iphones and ipads do not have GPS receivers and
obtain location data through cellular tower triangulation.

How does GPS accuracy affect polar alignment?
Would plus or minus 30 feet be significantly different from plus or
minus 3 feet accuracy?
What would be the maximum GPS position error that could be tolerated
for 200mm short (multi-minute) exposures?

I am going to buy an ipad for no other purpose than to run your Polar
Scope Align for IOS. It will run on all versions of IOS from 6 to 9,
correct? Would there be any reason other than speed to prefer one IOS
version over the others?

Considering the importance of good polar alignment for portable battery
powered unguided single axis astrophotography trackers, I and MANY
others are in dire need of Polar Scope Align! I think your program is
in a class by itself. Thank you!

Reply
* ecuador says:
April 1, 2016 at 16:43

In the Location… screen of Polar Scope Align you can input your
coordinates directly (the switch set to Manual Location), if you know
where you will be beforehand you can get them from google maps (and
store it as a favorite location). This is your “backup” in case you
ever have trouble getting a location lock.
It is not true that iPhones (and 3G-enabled iPads) do not have GPS
radio receivers. The iPhones contain GPS radio since the iPhone 3G.
In fact, since the iPhone 4S they also contain GLONAS radio which
locks onto the Russian satellite network. In addition they have A-GPS
which can also use cell phone towers for location. Since that method
consumes less power, it is used most of the time (and also gets a
location immediately, unlike GPS which can take over a minute for a
satellite lock), however if you have no cell phone signal the GPS
radio should take over. If you don’t see the GPS getting a location,
try the “Force GPS” button on Polar Scope Align. For an iPad, you
don’t actually need to sign up for cell phone service, it is just
that the GPS chip is packaged with the cellular chip, so wifi-only
iPads lack it.
As for accuracy you don’t need that much, even a couple of km off
will not give you a difference big enough to actually see on the
reticle. In fact, the miscalculations of many other programs give you
a Polaris position that is off by an equivalent of being hundreds of
km away from your location! When you use Polar Scope Align which does
a careful job of calculating the position the usual limiting factor
is your polar scope and its reticle.
As for iOS, I’d say any version from iOS 7 and up is fine. I have to
do some tricks for the app to work on iOS 6 and it will work, but
there might be some differences.
And thanks for your kind words.

Reply
17. Riichard Poitevin says:
April 3, 2016 at 17:07

Thank you for this information.
Using your program will show the iOptron reticle with the Polaris position,
right? I have been told by Keith BC on the AstronomyForum.net that I could
use the Stellarium Polaris angle hour IF I renumbered the reticle for 24
hours
starting from zero where the iOptron reticle is marked 6, and proceeding in
a counter-clockwise direction. The iOptron reticle is labeled with
CLOCKWISE numbers starting from the top, marked 12. If I renumber the
reticle for 24 hours then I would be reducing the “resolution” by half
making it less possible to accurately place Polaris, which is a big reason
why I want to get your program.

How would you compare the usability of Polar Scope Align on an iphone vs an
ipad? I would think the larger screen would be a big plus.

There is much discussion about polar alignment on AstronomyForum.net.
I want to post a link to your program there and why I think its the best
polar alignment program. OK with you?

I’m am not sure if what Keith BC told me is correct. I was told that ipads
and iphones do not have gps receivers by an older, seemingly authoritative,
employee at the Apple Store here in Boise. Amazing how often I get wrong
information from people who should know what they’re talking about.

Reply
* ecuador says:
April 3, 2016 at 17:36

My app will show the Polaris position on any reticle you choose (14 in
the existing version, 15 in the next) and on the lower left will give you
the hour angle in the notation of the selected polar scope, so for the
iOptron it will give you the 1-12 hours clockwise notation. Above the
reticle display, right from the “Polaris” label you will also see the
local hour angle in the Stellarium notation. Keith is correct, you can
get it from Stellarium and start counting from iOptron’s 6, but consider
every 1 labeled hour to be 2 hours of the Stellarium hour angle.
Stellarium does not compute stellar aberration, which is not a big deal
as it is too small an effect, but if you want to see it matching Polar
Scope Align you can go to the latter’s Advanced Settings and disable it
(which – matching the Stellarium display – is the only reason you would
disable it).
The Pro version of the app has a zoom display so it is fine on an iphone
as well (especially the larger iPhones), however I use my iPad for flat
frames as well (turn on the light on Polar Scope Align and slide the
color to white), so I usually run the app on that.
I’d be happy for you to post a link to the app. I try not to “advertise”
much myself since I don’t enjoy blowing my own horn much, but of course
since I published it in the app store (originally it was just for me) I
do want more people to know about it and use it. I don’t regularly post
on astronomyforum.net, but you can find me under the handle ecuadorgr
there.
As for the other thing, well, the Apple “genius” despite the title is
nothing more than a salesman, they have a salesman salary and salesman
knowledge – these go hand in hand. For many many years now the high-end
cell-phone chipsets include GPS (and recently GLONAS) radio receivers. If
an iPad has a cell-phone chipset (meaning it is not a wifi-only version)
it will have GPS (regardless if you even have cell reception or even a
phone contract).
Cheers.

Reply
18. Howard says:
June 2, 2016 at 02:27

You have done such a good job! I just bought the pro version and I’m going
to test it on my Taka EM-11 and old EM-1S. Thanks!

Reply
* ecuador says:
June 2, 2016 at 23:05

Glad you liked it!

Reply
19. Darren Bly says:
June 22, 2016 at 22:43

Love the app. I liked it enough to buy the pro version. I have an idea. How
about showing the NPC on a Telrad reticle? I know more than a few people
with old telescopes that polar align using a Telrad by placing Polaris in
the right place just inside the 2deg ring.

Reply
* ecuador says:
June 23, 2016 at 00:08

Hi, glad you liked the app. Hmm, I guess I could add the Telrad, it is
not hard, I hadn’t heard it being used that way. Perhaps mostly people
with fork-mounted scopes? If you know someone who uses the Telrad that
way and has an iphone/ipad, you could tell them to write me through the
contact page and we could try it out.

Reply
20. Darren Bly says:
June 26, 2016 at 22:47

I can test it for you with my old C8. I’ve also used this method with old
German EQ’s with out polar scopes. I first read about this method in Sky
and Telescope mag in the 1990’s. I believe it was called the “Ralph Ford
Handy Dandy Pole Finder.

Reply
* ecuador says:
June 27, 2016 at 13:16

OK, Darren, I’ll mail you.

Reply
21. Tim says:
October 26, 2016 at 07:31

FYI
Great app, thank you.

I have noticed in Astrotrac that the target for the Southern Hemisphere is
Polaris and not Octantis.

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 26, 2016 at 19:47

Hi Tim. Unfortunately, the classic Astrotrac reticle doesn’t have a
precision marking for σ Octantis, so there isn’t a way (at least that I
can think of) for Polar Scope Align to help you further – the best
strategy would be to use the reticle as intended, putting σ, χ Oct at the
markings etc. This is also explained in the help (Reticle Help button).
Perhaps it is confusing as it is and I could add the σ Oct “cross” even
if I know that it will offer no real improvement in accuracy for users.
I’ll see about that, but, in reality as I said I don’t see a way for
Polar Scope align to really help with an Astrotrac down under. I know you
guys have it tougher than us at polar alignment (I hope the Magellanic
clouds and Tarantula make up for it!) and if you have an idea of how you
could be assisted by Polar Scope Align, do tell me. I haven’t tried polar
aligning with σ Oct, but I assume an app showing you you have to put it
in the cross, is not very much help, you already know that, right?

Reply
22. david burlington says:
November 23, 2016 at 20:50

How do you connect your device to the polar scope have you a diy adapter or
a shop bought device

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 23, 2016 at 23:53

Sorry, I do not connect my iPhone/iPad to the polar scope, Polar Scope
Align does not work like that.

Reply
23. david burlington says:
November 26, 2016 at 08:12

sorry to ask a stupid question how does this software connect with youre
mount

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 26, 2016 at 15:12

Sorry, but Polar Scope Align does not connect to a mount. It is a tool to
use your polar scope visually with greater accuracy (although the Pro
version does have some features that go beyond that task).

Reply
* david burlington says:
November 26, 2016 at 15:28

ok thanks i use polar align on ios george varros i think , visually
same sort of thing

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 26, 2016 at 15:39

Well, yes, same “sort” of thing, right. There are a few important
differences though 😉

Reply
24. Alan says:
March 29, 2017 at 14:19

Weather forecast not working

Reply
* ecuador says:
March 29, 2017 at 14:47

Unfortunately the 7Timer! service that powers the weather forecast part
of the app is down for technical reasons. Since it will be inaccessible
for a while (the problem is not in the direct control of the 7Timer!
people, so they can’t speed up the process), I am adding a temporary link
to an alternate weather report. This already works for the stand-alone
Xasteria app, and it will be included in Polar Scope Align Pro 3.1
(probably next week – it is currently being beta-tested as it has several
new features).

Reply
25. David Tarantini says:
August 26, 2017 at 16:08

Hello. I really required to use the julian calculator/converter and when i
go to set the month, regardless of the entry, it returns to “12”
I love your app, and i rely on it. I’m hoping this feedback enables the
julian calculator to work

Thank you for creating this product.

Reply
* ecuador says:
August 27, 2017 at 00:08

Thanks for the feedback. One other person told me the same thing last
week, but I’ve been away on an eclipse trip, so expect a fix in about a
week. Glad you enjoy the app!

Reply
26. Robert says:
September 22, 2017 at 21:19

I cant seem to download this – app store doesnt recognise it – and link
take me to itunes – but cant download it from there

Reply
* ecuador says:
September 22, 2017 at 22:34

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I really don’t understand why
Apple keeps changing the way app store links are supposed to work every
1-2 years, it is maddening! Hopefully I fixed the links and they’ll work
for quite a while!

Reply
* Robert says:
September 23, 2017 at 15:31

Hi – I just tried again… I can only see it in iTunes preview – if I
search through all the apps in Utilities in Appstore I cant find it…

Reply
* Robert says:
September 23, 2017 at 16:06

I got it now – thank you so much – great app!!

Reply
27. Stan Burman says:
November 26, 2017 at 10:23

Can you add the LighTrack II reticle? Thank you very much.

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 26, 2017 at 13:56

Hi. From the Fornax website I see that the LightTrack II comes with the
SkyWatcher HM5 polar scope, which is already supported (listed as Orion /
SkyWatcher 2012-2032 in the app). If you have a different reticle, I
would be able to add it if I had a good image.

Reply
* Stan Burman says:
November 28, 2017 at 00:35

Thank you for the quick and helpful reply!

Reply
28. Clary Leggett says:
March 8, 2018 at 06:38

I just found this page.
Is their an Android version in the works.
This is what I have been looking for.
Wow you have put together an incredible software package.
Clary

Reply
* ecuador says:
March 8, 2018 at 14:07

I am talking to an android dev friend in case he could do a port, since I
don’t have the time myself. Will see what he says 🙂

Reply
29. Carmelo Scordia says:
August 21, 2018 at 17:09

Hi, how i cagne timezone from gtm +2 to gtm+1? I have a pro version of ps
aling pro.

Reply
* ecuador says:
August 21, 2018 at 18:38

Hello. The app uses the time zone of the device (and also UTC – you can
make that the main display if you go in advanced settings). So to change
from GMT+2 to GMT+1 you would have to go to your iPhone/iPad settings.
Don’t forget that daylight savings also affects the time – for example,
Italy is GMT+1 in the winter and GMT+2 in the summer.

Reply
30. Ronnie says:
September 4, 2018 at 23:51

Great app! Wonderful features and functionality. Curious if you would be
able to update the polar scopes to include Orion’s new Global Reticle. It’s
being used as a stand alone Pro Polar Axis scope and also built into the
Sirius and Atlas Pro mounts which are two of the most popular go-to mounts
available in the mid-range price point. Thanks for the support!

Reply
* ecuador says:
September 4, 2018 at 23:55

I’m not sure what the Global Reticle is Ronnie – a quick search didn’t
return anything that seems relevant, can you provide me with info on it?

Reply
* ecuador says:
September 5, 2018 at 00:49

Are you sure you are not talking about the Skywatcher 2012-2032 reticle
that is already included in the app? Orion and Skywatcher mounts usually
differ only in their color…

Reply
31. daniel arnoff says:
October 5, 2018 at 23:05

I have a Pro copy of your fantastic application.

Is it possible to work with PS Align in South Hemisphere?

And if the answer is yes, what changes has to be made on Settings?

Best regards, daniel

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 6, 2018 at 02:48

Hello, there shouldn’t be a need to change something, if your location
shows up as South Hemisphere (either using Auto location or setting it
yourself), the display will switch to sigma Octantis alignment
automatically. The main reason to go to settings is to select the correct
reticle. Is there something not working specifically in your case? If
yes, please elaborate and I will email you. Regards, Dimitrios

Reply
* Manoocher says:
March 27, 2020 at 03:30

I am also using the app in South Hemisphere and it is great. Do I have
to point the mount toward NCP or SCP?

Kind regards Manoocher

Reply
* ecuador says:
April 7, 2020 at 11:30

You have to point to the SCP for the South Hemisphere. If my
instructions are confusing on that at some point, please tell me to
amend them.

Reply
32. Liam says:
October 12, 2018 at 00:38

Do you have an android version and if not when will you plan on porting it
over to android

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 12, 2018 at 18:13

Hi Liam, that’s in my FAQ above, unfortunately, while I am an Android
user I am not an Android developer, so there is no current plan for a
port. It is a common request and if I happen to find the right Android
developer to work with it might happen, but it is not that likely.
Apologies.

Reply
33. Howard Gao says:
November 23, 2018 at 09:55

The instruction on this page is wonderful. I just bought a Tak NJP Temma 2
and will test it with the pro version app. Thanks and please keep the good
work!

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 23, 2018 at 09:59

Thanks. Hope you enjoy your new Tak!

Reply
34. Sigmund says:
June 25, 2019 at 17:05

Is it possible to change the target (Polaris) for the pointer function to
other objects? I would love to strap the phone to my scope and get pointing
guidance.

Thanks in advance!!!/

Reply
* ecuador says:
June 26, 2019 at 04:46

Hmm, it is a bit too tangential for a polar alignment app. I was
preparing such a feature for another more generic astro app – but I never
have the time to finish that app, so there is a chance I might decide for
it to end up in polar scope align…
For the time being, if you go to the DSO database, click configure
sorting, select by pointing you can point in the sky, click (or hold) the
select point button and get a list of the nearest objects (based on your
active filters). Not exactly the same, but maybe helpful?

Reply
35. Linus says:
October 3, 2019 at 18:57

Sorry for bringing up the Android topic again, but have you had time to
port the app to Android yet, or find someone that’s willing to?

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 5, 2019 at 19:47

I am sorry, no progress 🙁

Reply
36. Stephen Dyer says:
January 10, 2020 at 10:38

Daytime/no polar scope alignment does not work on my iPhone 8 Plus also did
not work on my previous phone iPhone 7 Plus. The left right arrows stay
large and don’t vary in size like the up down arrows. Also very very slight
movement makes the cross jump all over the screen and the actual alignment
is out by miles compared to other astro apps.

Reply
* ecuador says:
January 10, 2020 at 11:58

Hello. I sent you an email to which you can reply so that I can assist
with the issue.
You can also take a look at this user video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2lwoJeQj44 to make sure you are using
the same concept.
Regards,
Dimitrios

Reply
37. Richard Buller says:
June 8, 2020 at 18:46

I am using the Polar Scope Align Pro Watch app (v5.0) on my iPhone. I am
trying to use the Takahashi EM200/400 reticle to align to the North star
and have an issue I need help with. The issue is that when I open the app,
the time shown on the app reticle appears to be 2 hours behind local time.
For instance, just now at noon local time, I opened the app and the reticle
was reading 10 hours for today’s date. The app is reading my current
position of Long 114º 05′ 35″ W, Lat 46º 31′ N, correctly. I am in the
Mountain time zone, which has the zone meridian of 105ºW. The Takahashi
polar alignment procedure requires to set the mount for the meridian zone
offset. So for my location I calculate the offset as ~9ºW. However, on the
app, the Offset is listed as 5.9ºE. Note, that although I am in the
Mountain time zone, I am located at the extreme western edge of the time
zone, in fact, since the boundary between Pacific and Mountain time is not
a straight line, I am west of some of the Pacific zone. Since the app
offset for me is listed as 5.9ºE, it almost seems that it is assuming I am
in the Pacific time zone. Could this be the reason for the time being off?
Lastly, does any of this matter, should I just use the time as it appears
in the app to align with? Any help will be appreciated.

Reply
* ecuador says:
June 8, 2020 at 21:21

Hello. It can get a bit complicated with time zones and summer time and
central meridians and people some times can get it wrong, which is why
the short answer is: Do what the app says for both the offset and the
time and it will be correct.
The long answer is that to go around the time zone issue, the app does
not try to figure out what time zone you are in, but only where you are.
For you, it found your nearest central meridian at 120 degrees, that
corresponds to GMT-8 and the time is shown as such. So, you are correct,
the app is telling you to use Pacific Standard Time with the offset of
5.9 East. This is exactly equivalent to using GMT-7, which is Mountain
Standard Time, with an offset of 9 West. You can do wither pair of
settings, and the result will be the same. Theoretically I could make it
pick MST if your device is on Mountain time, but it still won’t match
your actual device time in the summer, so I opted for going for what
meridian will give you the smallest offset.
Hope this helps!

Reply
* Richard Buller says:
June 8, 2020 at 21:57

Got it, thanks!

Reply
38. Steif says:
December 2, 2020 at 06:36

I am noticing a continual discrepancy between your iOS apps display of
Polaris relative to NCP compared to Stellarium. Initially I thought it was
just inversion compensation ( i.e. the polar scope image being inverted )
but after a few checks I noticed it was a random difference.

Reply
* ecuador says:
December 2, 2020 at 10:48

Hi, this is an often-discussed topic, there is even an “Accuracy” section
(app help, or on this page) about how Polar Scope Align compares to other
software. You could match Stellarium before v15, but only if you disabled
some extra calculations on Polar Scope Align (stellar aberration,
nutation). At around v15 Stellarium did some changes that give different
results and tracking them I found they had at least one reported
calculation error (that adds a variance with a period of a day if I
remember correctly), so I was waiting for that to be fixed first before
checking again, but stopped checking after about a year, extreme accuracy
in hour angle is not really their priority – Stellarium has a different
intended usage, so not sure if it is fixed. In the aforementioned
“Accuracy” section there are some other ways listed to check Polar Scope
Align’s accuracy.

Reply
39. Mark says:
December 17, 2020 at 01:37

Any chance you will port this over to android? My friend has an apple and
we have used it and its spot on with the app when I check with polemaster

Reply
* ecuador says:
December 17, 2020 at 10:37

Sorry can’t make any promises. I’ve tried in the past, but it requires
collaborating with an Android developer (I have neither the time nor
experience to deal with Android), so it has not pan out yet. I do know
the current Android apps are not that good, I’ve had to use them at
times…

Reply
40. CARLOS ENRIQUE ORTIZ RANGEL says:
January 10, 2021 at 19:47

¿How can I do push-to tracking for objects in the solar system?

Reply
* ecuador says:
January 10, 2021 at 20:11

Hello. Unfortunately, planets are not yet in the Polar Scope Align object
database. It is not a trivial addition (for a star you only need the
coordinates at J2000.0 to calculate position at any time – for a planet
you need to model its entire movement), so I can’t promise when they will
be added.

Reply
* Michael says:
February 1, 2021 at 22:53

Just purchased your app, and it’s awesome 🙂 I was also wondering if it
would be possible to add the planets but can see your point with
respect to that you have to include a model.
However there may be a more obvious solution that require that the user
know the planets actual RA / Dec or Alt / Azimut values. If this is
known and you could modify you app to display the current RA / Dec or
Alt / Azimuth values then it is only a question to manually move to the
desired direction when the actual values are equal to the “target”
values 🙂 This could also be implemented into the “Push To” function
where the user just have to input the “target” values.

Reply
* ecuador says:
February 2, 2021 at 00:05

Hello. The “push to” function already shows the Alt/Az (or the RA/Dec
if you switch to EQ mode in settings) that you are pointing to, so
you could do that hitting push to for any other target, just the
arrows won’t match. I could think of a nice way to manually enter a
target perhaps.

Reply
41. CARLOS ENRIQUE ORTIZ RANGEL says:
January 11, 2021 at 19:37

Hello Dimitrios, thank you very much for responding.

Yes, of course I had already shown that the databases did not have a solar
system and that is why my question. I did not know that it was so complex
to be able to have planets and it was not so with stars and deep sky
objects. Buy your application to help me push-to my first semi-professional
telescope (90/500 f 5.5) after buying the SKEye Android APP that has that
possibility (solar system and deep space objects) with its bases data, but
your APP seems much more complete and has more options, which is why I
would only like to use that one on my iPad mini.

Thank you very much for the invitation to the beta list, but I’m not
interested for now.

You have really done a magnificent job for which I congratulate you, I know
something of the effort involved in the development of APP and I know that
you have invested a lot of time to have it as you currently do.

I hope everything goes well in this pandemic, I send you my regards.

Reply
42. david walden says:
May 17, 2021 at 12:25

How is progress on the Android version? You may recall, my being a beta
tester for the IOS version didn’t work out. Align works on my old iOS
devices, the beta tester sofware didn’t.

I have an up to date Android pixel phone and several Android tablets.

You may also recall my FORTAN/NOVAS/DE430 version of the align app which
includes all effects.

Reply
* ecuador says:
May 17, 2021 at 12:31

Hi David. There’s some progress, but, again I will make no promises as it
needs still work to at least support the core functionality of the iOS
app. Not an easy port…

Reply
43. Makrem Larnaout says:
June 6, 2021 at 15:24

An android version please ?

Reply
* ecuador says:
June 7, 2021 at 13:10

Hi, I am trying to develop one with some help, but it is a very complex
app so takes time and I cannot give a date of when (or even if) it will
be released, sorry!

Reply
* Jose says:
July 14, 2021 at 20:16

Did you know about this link pointing to your app?
–link redacted–

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 7, 2021 at 08:44

I removed the link, as it is one of several sites that mirror the
apple store, having screenshots and descriptions of all iOS apps, but
then lead you to download “apk” files, of supposedly similar Android
apps in pirated versions. So you can’t get the actual iOS apps (you’d
need a jailbroken iPhone anyway even if you could), and the android
apps they have, most likely include ads/spyware/malware, hence the
link is removed to protect the innocent.

Reply
44. Dave R says:
March 25, 2022 at 06:58

Polar Scope Align Pro is a great app… thank you!!!
Question:
How do I reset the laser/hop star calibration back to factory defaults (
Alt=0, Az=0)?

Reply
* ecuador says:
March 25, 2022 at 12:09

Hi. Glad you like it. If you are on a “Push To” screen, i.e. either the
screen after the “Hop To” step, or if you do a “Push To Direct” without
the hop, there will be a “Sync To” button on the upper left. Clicking it
will give you the option to confirm the new Sync offset, cancel, or Reset
the offset, which is what you are asking for. Completely exiting the app
will also reset it.

Reply
* Dave R says:
March 25, 2022 at 16:26

Thank you for the quick response.
When I start from the Laser/Hop Tool I do not see that option? From the
tool (Laser) it also seems to not reset the offsets when I fully close
and reopen the app.
I believe I understand this tools function is for manual alignment (via
laser) to a star which is great but would like a way to reset it so I
don’t get fooled if it is off from the last time I used it. Thanks!!

Reply
* ecuador says:
March 25, 2022 at 17:09

Ah, I see, you are talking about the Laser/Hop tool, for that, the
idea is that you have a fixed 2-step process, so you always have to
sync to a star (with any method you follow, scope, laser etc) and
have the offset recalculated at step 1/2 – hence there is no need to
be able to reset it, it will get overwritten every time you do this 2
step process.
The previous offset is indeed shown and applied on step 1/2 in case
it is of help, but in general on this step the guidance cannot be
relied on. However, the offset is forgotten after 1 hour, as its
limited usefulness expires completely after a while.
Note that the offset of the Laser/Hop align does not relate to the
other Push To/Hop To offset, they are kept separately and behave
differently.
Hope this clarifies it for you. I do not see any need to manually
reset this offset, and the app itself will forget it after an hour
anyway…

Reply
45. Don Samuels says:
April 4, 2022 at 16:37

Quality of alignment question. Has anyone done a study on quality of
alignment vs exposure time? If I ever get enough of a clear night I will
have to try. The app tells you where to place Polaris, but if you are off
by say half of the cross, would a rule of thumb be say 20 sec for a 200mm
lens pointing at Orion? I know I will never get it perfect, especially when
it is 17 F out 🙁

Reply
* ecuador says:
April 7, 2022 at 11:12

Well, it is quite complicated, it also depends on your pixel size, how
many pixels you would consider “off” etc. A calculator like this perhaps
would help: http://celestialwonders.com/tools/polarMaxErrorCalc.html . I
haven’t included such a calculator in the app so far as it seems a bit
too complicated to use.
Edit: Oh, sorry, that calculator is for guided astrophotography,
calculating the field rotation due to the polar alignment error. There
must be one for unguided available out there, not seeing one on a very
quick search I tried.

Reply
46. Mike says:
May 3, 2022 at 20:36

My reticle does not show movement- locked into one pisition. Using
Celestron C8 7×50

Reply
* ecuador says:
May 3, 2022 at 21:34

I emailed you so that it’s easier to respond to me. At least a couple of
times before I had people telling me Polaris does not move. In one case
they had accidentally switched to Manual time, so it was paused. In the
other case the user expected visible movement, which is not the case, it
would take 24 hours for the Polaris target to make a full circle on the
reticle, so the movement is very slow. But feel free to respond to my
email, preferably with a screenshot. Thanks.

Reply
47. Nino Filip says:
May 25, 2022 at 08:47

Hi. Mi name is Nino. I have a question. You maybe get this question already
but i did not find it. It is possible this app for Android users to
develop?

I dont want to buy an iPhone just for this purpose.

Thanks

Reply
* ecuador says:
May 25, 2022 at 14:43

Hi. The answer is in the FAQ above. Unfortunately I can’t make promises.
There have been a couple of attempts in the past which haven’t panned
out, it is not an easy task overall and I am not an android developer
myself. There is a similarly named app on Android currently that is
unrelated and not really recommended – although there are some other OK
Android apps.

Reply
48. Russ says:
June 15, 2022 at 20:40

I recently purchased PS Align Pro Watch and installed it on my Apple
iWatch. I can access the app from the list of apps when I press the crown
on the watch, but I cannot place the app on the face of the watch. When I
go to customize the watch face, PS Align Pro Watch does not even show up
for any of the possible positions in the complications list of positions.
How can I get it to appear on the face of the watch for easy access? Thanks
for any assistance with this.

Reply
* ecuador says:
June 15, 2022 at 21:19

Hi. Apps and watch faces are not a similar thing. Watch faces are much
more limited, so they cannot do the things that an app does. They are
quite new for 3rd party apps (Apple only allowed them less than 2 years
ago) and don’t work with the first 3 generations of Apple Watches, so
overall given what I could do with them and how few of my users would be
able to use them, there are currently no plans for one, sorry. If I could
make the app work as a watch face with similar functionality I would.

Reply
49. George says:
October 2, 2022 at 06:13

My iphone 12 compass is always off by 2-3 degrees, compared to my newer
Samsung Galaxy. This makes it harder to use the Polar Align app.

Under Daytime Polar Align > Settings, What does the “Calibrate Compass
Enabled/Disabled” do? Can it help me?

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 2, 2022 at 16:36

If the calibrate compass setting is enabled, iOS will pop-up a screen
asking you to do some movements to calibrate the compass. It might not
really help you though, because the iPhone continuously calibrates the
compass anyway as you move the phone, so if you are having an inaccurate
compass even after doing figure 8 movements and keeping it away from
electronics/metal etc (careful of magnetic clasp cases!) it won’t really.
Help. Are you sure it is less accurate than your other phone and it is
not for example something like true north vs magnetic north (PS Align
uses true north regardless your settings)?

Reply
50. Don P. says:
October 12, 2022 at 18:58

This app is fantastic. In fact, if everyone used German Equatorial Mounts
and polar scopes, this would be the killer app for all iOS devices. PS
Align Pro makes setup for my classic Vixen GP a breeze and all of the
documentation is first rate.

I have a question. Do you have the excellent PS Align Pro documentation in
a PDF format? I would like to print out a copy of it to keep with my
hardcopy hardware documents. Although I could print the online help files
direct from my iPad and the Internet, it would be nice if they were already
formatted for printing.

Thanks for this great software!

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 16, 2022 at 22:42

Glad you enjoy it. I’ll mail you to see which part of the documentation
you are interested, as iOS webviews inside apps (like the one that
displays the in-app help) unfortunately don’t support printing and the
site documentation is not as up to date (I will try to update the main
parts in time for the next release).

Reply
51. Daniel Chantepie says:
January 5, 2023 at 16:58

Very good app !
Thank you !

Reply
52. Don says:
January 6, 2023 at 18:19

Great app! Can’t go wrong with the free version. Better than any free
version out there!! However I also have the Pro version! Wow! For the price
of a bag of corn chips you can’t go wrong! The many features are awesome.
My favorite is the Zoom!! Get it. I promise it will be the best bag of corn
chips you ever buy! Cheers Don

Reply
53. Kirill says:
March 22, 2023 at 04:56

Thanks for the amazing app! One bug I noticed is that when I use map
selection in the location manager, the seconds part of Latitude always
comes out as 00″. Even if I enter the seconds manually and then save the
active location as a favorite, it still stores latitude with 00″. This is
the Pro version on an iPhone.

Reply
* ecuador says:
March 30, 2023 at 23:53

Thanks. It is fixed in the beta version (it’s free to join if you message
me using the contact page) and will be released soon.

Reply
54. Wouter van Reeven says:
May 14, 2023 at 10:40

Great app and thank you for making the push to functionality also work with
AltAz dobson telescopes!

Would you consider adding database search capabilities for stars like
“alpha lib” or “17 dra” please? Star names vary a lot depending on the
spelling and it is MUCH easier to type “alpha lib” than Zubenelgenubi
(which may be spelled differently depending on the app used). Also, not all
stars in the Yale Bright Star catalog have a name and it would be great to
be able to navigate to them as well.

Many thanks in advance and keep up the good work!!!

Reply
* ecuador says:
May 14, 2023 at 12:59

Hello. Thanks for the feedback. Not sure why you have a problem with
stars like “17 dra”, just type exactly that in the search field and it
should come up (unless it’s filtered-out). As for alpha lib, if you type
“lib” you should see the “α lib” around the top – the search function is
designed to specifically search constellations too. The one issue I see
is that while I have a Greek keyboard installed, that field does not show
my language button to use it, so I’ll address that.

Reply
* Wouter van Reeven says:
May 14, 2023 at 13:29

Hi, my bad! I didn’t try searching for 17 dra but that works. Also I
didn’t try only typing lib but that works also exactly like you
indicated. Thanks for the quick reply!

Reply
* ecuador says:
May 14, 2023 at 13:47

You might also be interested in opening the DSO Database help, on the
“Searching” section. The DSO search bar implements “regular
expressions” which is what is used in programming to implement
complex searches. It’s a bit overkill perhaps, but it’s there 😉

Reply
55. Andy says:
October 9, 2023 at 07:00

For daytime polar alignment, should you aim the crosshairs for the
“bullseye” and have the dot perfectly centered? Or should I think of the
dot as Polaris and place it in the corresponding circle as it would be for
nighttime polar alignment when looking through the polar scope? In other
words, do the circles in the daytime tool correspond to the circles of the
ioptron reticle display?

Reply
* ecuador says:
October 9, 2023 at 09:23

Hi. The target is not Polaris, but the North Celestial Pole (NCP), so you
go for dead center. We only use Polaris at night because we have no
better reference point, polar alignment otherwise should involve just the
NCP.

Reply
* Andy says:
October 10, 2023 at 05:34

Awesome! I’ll aim for dead center when using the Daytime Polar
Alignment feature. Thanks for clarifying that for me and for creating
the app.

Reply
56. Schuyler Hupp says:
November 11, 2023 at 23:02

Will there be an update that includes the current HEQ5 reticle?

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 11, 2023 at 23:09

Hello. The current HEQ5 should have the “SkyWatcher/Orion 2012-2032”
reticle. Is that not what you have?

Reply
57. Chris says:
November 17, 2023 at 17:54

Hi alle gibt es die Software auch in deutsch

Reply
* ecuador says:
November 17, 2023 at 18:07

I am sorry, it is not.

Reply
58. Rob says:
July 26, 2024 at 09:09

Congratulations on a fantastic app, has to be one of my favourites to use
with the Dwarf 2. Just a feature request, but a landscape layout for
daytime PA would be fantastic.

Reply
* ecuador says:
July 27, 2024 at 22:34

Hi glad you enjoy it. The landscape layout currently works only for
iPads, as very few screens of the app would fit in the landscape
orientation of an iPhone without serious work. It’s not in the immediate
plans, but I’ll keep it in mind.

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